Peach and Apple Butter Spread

If you’re a big Trader Joe’s shopper, you will know about their famous jarred butter spreads. Fig butter! Pumpkin butter! Maple butter! Cinnamon roll butter! So I thought to myself, “Wait, isn’t this easy to make at home? And does this mean you can turn anything into butter?” Maybe not anything, but my peach and apple butter is good enough to put Trader Joe’s out of business! Okay, I hope not, I love that store!

Tools and Equipment:

• Cutting board
• Chef Knife
• Peeler
• Medium Bowl
• Skillet (cast iron strongly reccomended)
• Wooden spoon
• Blender
• Mason Jar (for storing)

Selecting the Best Peaches and Apples

Since there are so many different types of apples, this recipe will result very differently if using red delicious one time and then using honey crisps the next time making this butter. Stay consistent, or figure what works best for you. I like to use organic honey crisps or Sugar Bee apples. As for peaches, this recipe calls for yellow peaches. The tricky thing with peaches is that they’re more of an early fall fruit than a late fall fruit, so this recipe is best to prepare in the beginning of autumn. Make a big batch and can it so you can enjoy peach and apple butter all autumn long!

I wait until my peaches get soft to make peach and apple butter. When I came up with this recipe, I just wanted to utilized my mushy peaches. I was too grossed out to eat it as it is like how I normally like my fruits, but didn’t want to waste them either. Hence there being more peaches than apples. Regardless how many times I’ve made this a higher peach ratio is more ideal.

Cooking Process

Just like most dishes I cook, I find it very important to follow a certain sequence or else it could also totally change the results.

First step is grease the pan with olive oil. Coconut oil is good too, but not butter. It’s important to start off with a fat that doesn’t burn so easily or else it will ruin the taste of the apples and peaches.

Second is to add the apples and let it soften before adding the peaches. Add a little salt to help soften the apple a touch faster. If using harder peaches, it’s okay to cook it with apples. This recipe calls for soft peaches, so it doesn’t need a lot of cooking time. Add in the butter with the peaches.

Third is adding in seasonings. Obviously, salt was already added, so next is cinnamon or pumpkin spice. Adding the dry seasonings first allows the fruits to cook faster and develop more color (aka caramelization which is when the sugars have melted). Then you’re going to add in your vanilla and lemon juice.

Turn off the heat once the peaches and apples are soft and have a beautiful golden brown hue. Add in the remaining tablespoon of butter in the end and just let it melt, cooling down the fruits just slightly.

Last step is to blend everything together. Make sure there are no chunks, it should be a smooth puree.

Other Important Notes to Know Before Cooking

When peeling and slicing your fruits, keep your apples in a bowl of cold water that’s slightly mixed with lemon juice to prevent oxidation when preparing your other ingredients.

Adjust the seasoning to your taste, but also following the cooking process in order provides techniques maximizing flavor without any extra ingredients.

For storing, it will be good for 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator. It’s also very easy to can the peach and apple butter to increase shelf life. Submerge a mason jar in boiling water for a few seconds to kill all bacteria (sterilizing), add in your peach and apple butter, close tight, then submerge again in boiling water to fully prevent any bacteria from accessing. This method is how most goods are canned, and it’s a sustainable way to keep food from spoiling!